Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Range Report 10/25/2009

We traveled light today for target practice. We had another activity scheduled, so we chose not to bring a lot of stuff to the range. We brought only one handgun, the S&W 686 .357 magnum revolver. We also brought two shotguns, Damsel’s 20 gauge and our security 12 gauge – both Remington 870s.

We shot 100 rounds of .38 specials through the 686. At one point, it failed to fire one of the rounds. When Damsel put the failed round back in the cylinder, it detonated properly. The other 99 rounds fired without incident, however, so we’re not quite ready to replace the firing pins just yet. We did replace the pins in both 686s about two years ago.

In the video, that’s me enlarging the already gaping hole in the silhouette target taped to a cardboard backing. We found that the cardboard helps to stabilize the target when mounted on the flimsy coat hanger/Boston clip target-hanging kluge they have at our range.

On the ammo front, we were pleased to find that one of the re-load bins was chock full of .38 special wadcutter rounds. I bought 200 rounds for future target shooting.

25 Oct 2009 by Firearms Shooting

Tiny Clusters

smilin-bob.jpg

I’m not sure of the name of the succulent that produces these tiny flower clusters. It grows on the patio in a little planter shaped like a cowboy.

The flowers are only a quarter of an inch (0.6 cm) across and the entire cluster is only three-quarters of an inch (2 cm) across. Up close, though, they appear to be big and beautiful. Click on the image to enlarge.

24 Oct 2009 by Home & Garden Photography

The Ghost of a Saguaro Cactus

saguaro-ghost.jpgHow about a good, but not scary, ghost story for Halloween?

From WikiPedia (edited):

The saguaro, pronounced suh-HWAR-o, (Carnegiea gigantea) is a large, tree-sized cactus species in the monotypic genus Carnegiea. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and an extremely small area of California. The saguaro blossom is the state flower of Arizona.

The common name saguaro came into the English language through the Spanish language, originating in the language of the Tohono O’odham native American nation. Saguaros can grow to forty-five feet tall and ten feet in circumference.

The ribs of the saguaro were used for construction and other purposes by Native Americans. A fine example can be seen in the roofing of the cloisters of the Mission San Xavier del Bac on the Tohono O’odham lands near Tucson, Arizona. The Seri people of northwestern Mexico used the plant which they call mojépe for a number of purposes.

When a saguaro dies, the woody support ribs remain after the flesh decays or is consumed. What you see in the image (click to enlarge) is the ghost (skeleton, maybe?) of a saguaro in Apache Junction, AZ.

23 Oct 2009 by Arizona Photography Travel

Road Runner

We stopped briefly in Quartzsite, Arizona, for gas and some bottled water (the desert makes you very thirsty). While we were parked there, this road runner walked across the parking lot. I took this picture of him from the truck just before he ran off into the field. For a moment, he was a “parking lot walker,” before becoming a “field runner.” At no time did he say anything like “beep, beep.”

road-runner.jpg

No larger size image available.

22 Oct 2009 by Arizona Critters Travel

The Fox Hunt

James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal posted this item today about MoveOn.org’s attack on Fox News:

MoveOn.org, the ghastly people who brought us “General Betray Us,” have joined President Obama in his war against Fox News Channel. Yesterday we received an email from MoveOn’s Noah T. Winer that begain:

“All year, FOX has worked 24/7 to block President Obama’s agenda—repeating lies about “death panels,” promoting Tea Party protests, and whipping up fake political scandals.

Now, President Obama is fighting back. The White House communications director said FOX is a “wing of the Republican Party . . . let’s not pretend they’re a news network.” To draw attention to its biased coverage, President Obama will not appear on FOX for the rest of this year.

It’s about time Democrats stood up to FOX! Can you sign this petition asking Democrats to support President Obama’s stance by staying off FOX as long as he does?”

fox-hunt.jpgWe think Fox is too left-wing, so we signed the petition in the hope of remedying that.

Seriously, though, we are of two minds about this, and we should begin by disclosing our direct interest in the matter: We have been an employee of Fox’s parent company, News Corp., since it acquired Dow Jones & Co. in December 2007, and we own some News Corp. stock.

Of course it delights us to see the president and his most unsavory supporters promote Fox as the only TV news network that isn’t in the tank for the administration. Although this isn’t entirely fair to the other networks–in particular, ABC News’s Jake Tapper has shown a strong independent streak–it is well-deserved recognition for the work Fox has done in bringing to the fore such stories as the Van Jones and Acorn scandals, which many other news organizations ignored for as long as they could.

On the other hand, we are an American, and Barack Obama is our president too. It cracks us up when MoveOn.org cheers on the president for “fighting back” by “not appearing” and “staying off.” “Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about, and gallantly he chickened out.”

But it scares the hell out of us to think that this also seems to be Obama’s approach to dealing with America’s enemies.

Emphasis mine – Obama seems unable to face his enemies, political or otherwise.

Fox Hunt cartoon via the Patriot post.

21 Oct 2009 by Media Whacko Politics

Visit to Cabela’s in Glendale, AZ

It was almost a religious experience. The grandeur of a giant department store devoted to all things outdoors and shooting. Damsel wanted to camp in the parking lot. Her eyes glazed over with the faraway look of a shopaholic who sees something shiny. Me? I was drooling on the seemingly endless display cabinet of hand guns with lower-than-expected pricing. Oh, and there was that S&W M&P 15-22 that flirted with my brain – I had to avert my glance to avoid being totally mesmerized.

cabelas.jpg

California needs stores like this, but we know the creeps in Sacramento and the idiotic Governator will drive stores and revenues like this away from the Anti-Midas state government – everything they touch turns to sh*t. The “Golden State” paradigm is now a fond memory from the past.

19 Oct 2009 by Arizona California Firearms Second Amendment Something Shiny

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